FAQ - Renewable energy
Geothermal energy and heat pumps
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This is about using the heat from the underground of the earth. With an average or low temperature, one can heat spaces, while a high temperature helps produce electricity from interposed steam. |
The applications are numerous, the most frequently used in construction are :
The geothermal heat pump or ground source heat pump (GSHP) :
Efficiency or productivity or COP (Coefficient of performance - the ratio of the change in heat at the "output" to the supplied work) in a heat pump is connected to the temperature (not too low) and stability of the temperature of the environment of pumping.
Thus a heat pump in capturing the basement will be more effective than a heat pump operating on the outside air.
A vertical capture (by drilling) is more effective than horizontal capture (located at a depth of about 60cm to 80cm).
In southern regions and in particular at the Mediterranean strip, a horizontal capture is questionable given the fact that the soil tends to retract around the scooping pipe because the humidity cannot be maintained by sufficiently regular rainfall. It is considerate that the scooping of the heat pump itself has an important share of energy impoverishment of the soil.
Earth-air heat exchangers (EAHE or EAHX) :
This is the ground-coupled heat exchanger
Brine-air heat exchanger :
It follows the same logic as the ground-coupled heat exchanger but uses pipe carrying brine (mixture of water and ethanol) instead of air. At the end of its circuit is located a heat exchanger that also allows to transfer the captured energy to the chosen target. In general it is to manipulate the air temperature of the ventilation system.
Renewable Energy
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